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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. row — to paddle
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. row — a line
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. band — a ring
  9. wind — moving air
  10. band — a music group
  11. court — of a king
  12. hand — help
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. court — for sport
  17. branch — a division
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. wind — moving air
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. court — of law
  22. ball — a dance
  23. hand — in cards
  24. branch — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com